


Scars

by StrawberryWhorecake



Series: The Inquisitor's Lion [1]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Awkward Flirting, F/M, Fluff, Romance, pre romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-05
Updated: 2015-01-05
Packaged: 2018-03-05 15:02:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3124535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StrawberryWhorecake/pseuds/StrawberryWhorecake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Artemisia Trevelyan is still new to the Inquisition and finds herself alone with the Commander. Short, bad flirting, and fluff.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Scars

Artemisia made her way to the large room at the back of the chantry. She thought it strange that a room designed for peace and contemplation transformed into a war room. The servant girl told Artemisia that Cassandra required her presence immediately. Artemisia had rushed herself trying not to anger the seeker.

The last few weeks felt like a dream. The only constant reminder of reality was the mark on her hand. Occasionally the pain bothered her, but most days she was able to bear with it. But at this moment, it burned as though she had grasped at embers in a fire. She pressed her fingertips around the edges of the wound, hoping to quell some of the pain yet cautious not to touch it directly. 

She developed the habit to wear gloves in order to keep others from staring, but in her haste she forgot them. It looked like a wound, a gash that had yet to heal. Only this wound shone with the light of the fade. She clenched her fist and groaned.

 _Stop complaining._ She heard her mother’s voice in her head. _There’s no use in complaining about things you cannot change._ She smirked. If taken out of context her mother’s cruel words actually seemed like sound advice. Artemisia pushed open the door to the antechamber. She expected to see the entire council, but Cassandra nor Leliana were there, only _him._

The commander stood before the war table and looked equally surprised to see her.

“Oh…um…Herald.” He stammered, then cleared his throat. “I was expecting Seeker Pentaghast.”

“Me too.” She said quietly.

The commander chuckled. “She made the matter sound urgent but she is the one who is late.”

Artemisia smiled, unable to find the words to say. She had been wary of the Inquisition’s commander in the beginning. He seemed harsh and rough, but as she spent time around him she realized that the commander was merely his exterior. Beneath that he was calm, patient and kind. Nothing like the soldiers she knew before, the calloused old men who came to visit her uncle.

She looked to her feet. Commander Cullen was also far more handsome than any soldier she ever knew. Artemisia caught herself staring at him sometimes as he supervised his recruits. He stood tall, solid and unbending. Too often had she gone to speak to Cassandra only to have her thoughts interrupted by his deep voice distributing orders to his men. The seeker had noticed, she was quite sure of it, but had made no comment. But Cassandra’s smirks were hard to ignore.

She found it hard to concentrate around him, and even harder to form words. And now he was smiling at her, and she said nothing. Artemisia groaned inwardly. Her knees grew weak. She willed herself to speak. _Say something…anything!_

It was the commander who finally broke the silence.

“Does that bother you?” He motioned towards her hand. “I noticed you keep clenching your fist.”

She looked at her tightly balled up hand, her knuckles turning white.

“I…a bit. Yes.” She said.

The commander frowned. “I am sorry” He said solemnly as he shifted his feet. “I must confess, I do feel guilty that we use this mark of yours considering how much pain it has brought you.”

Artemisia’s mouth opened, but no words came out. In the beginning she felt like a tool, an instrument and nothing more to these people. It was a familiar feeling and she couldn’t help but feel that she was back at home, with her parents and her sister, being used again. It was painful. She had spent too many years finding herself just to be lost again to circumstance.

But time had slowly eroded that thought. The Inquisition treated her as an equal. They asked her advice, allowed her to make decisions. In the beginning she stayed out of a sense of duty. Artemisia was the only one who could close the rifts, and close the breach. But now her thoughts had changed. She saw the cause that these people fought for, how passionately they believed, and she believed in it as well now.

Artemisia shook her head at his apology. “I want to be here.” She said softly.

He smiled again, but it was different this time. There was something different in his eyes now. Admiration? Respect? It made her heart beat faster. She searched for something to say, to break this feeling that grew within her.

“How did you get that scar?” She blurted and immediately winced at her stupidity. The commander’s brow furrowed. Artemisia spoke quickly.

“I only ask because I have heard all kinds of rumors.”

“Oh?” The side of his mouth kicked up. “What sort of rumors?”

Artemisia smiled. “Too many. I can’t keep up with them. I heard that you fell down a flight of stairs in Kirkwall while running from a blood mage prostitute.”

“I wouldn’t have run from a…wait…from a _what?_ ” His cheeks reddened. Artemisia laughed and continued.

“I’ve also heard that it was Cassandra’s doing, but there are at least 5 different versions of why it happened and one of them involves a midnight rendezvous.”

He groaned.

“But my favorite is that you were injured while defending Kirkwall against a horde of Ravaini pirates who came to assassinate the viscount.”

He laughed then, Louder than Artemisia had ever heard. She grinned as he caught his breath.

“ _That_ is your favorite rumor, then? I’m afraid the truth is far less exciting.”

Artemisia held up her hands. “Please don’t tell me! I like the idea of you fighting pirates. It makes you sound dashing.”

They laughed together. A warm feeling spread over her as she watched his face light up with merriment. He seemed so serious most of the time, it was good to see that he could still find laughter, even in her ridiculous ramblings.

The door opened behind them and they grew quiet. Cassandra entered the room. Josephine and Leliana not far behind speaking in hushed tones. The seeker gave Artemisia a strange look before taking the space beside her. She made no comment if she heard any of their conversation before entering and spoke of her plan.

Cullen cleared his throat and remained the silent and stern commander for the duration of their council meeting. But before she left with Cassandra, Artemisia met his gaze and noted the brief smile he gave her as she walked away.


End file.
